From the Northern Stand: R18

Posted in From the Northern Stand tagged Round Review by Permanence

Saturdays encounter against the Cat’s was just the clash I had been waiting for. A chance to measure ourselves against the best and see where we were in terms of the premiership race for 2009. Granted we failed a similar test vs the Saints a fortnight earlier but watching them clinically put away the Bulldogs last week it just seems they are that far ahead of the rest at the moment.

Looking back over the game we can probably attribute the loss to a poor first quarter showing. Not in terms of the scoreboard as we were only the solitary point behind, but the fact we were kicking with a strong breeze and couldn’t turn it into a substantial lead.

In the second term the Cats utilized the breeze to kick out to a 3 goal lead at the main break. Heading into the 3rd quarter we only had two goal kickers, multiple goals to Burton and Tippett keeping us in it. Geelong threatened to run away with the contest and blow it to pieces kicking the first 2 goals after the break but from that point on they faced a staunch resistance by the tri colours. All of the sudden the pressure really stepped up a notch and Geelong made numerous errors. Between midway through the 3rd and midway through the 4th in the space of 30 minutes we piled on 6 majors to 0.

Step in Paul Chapman. The man had been a nuisance all day but he really stepped it up in the final 10 minutes of the match slotting a goal through a tight angle to keep the cats within striking distance when a goal the other way would have almost sealed it. Then 5 minutes from time a long bomb by Chappy from outside 50 gave the cats back the lead again

Big Ivan Maric had a shot from 55 to pinch back the lead with 30 seconds to go but in reality he was always gonna struggle to make the distance and the kick feel well short.

So we leave Kadina Park empty handed, but with many positives to take from the match. We now know we can match it with the best of them and must now be considered a serious premiership threat. Another huge test awaits this week with a possible top 4 playoff clash with Collingwood. The winner will put themselves in prime position for that 4th spot, the loser to battle out the minor places in the finals.

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